Gray Paladin: A Star Wars Quest
by Publicola
Summary: Constantine Ramble was a citizen of the Core: Circarpous IV, the financial capital of the Republic. Tai Mox was of the Outer Rim, born on a planet so obscure, even the Republic Survey Corps had forgotten it. Their daughter is going to save the galaxy.
1. A Ramble Family: Diana

**A/N:** Welcome to the quest!

We lay our scene in the twilight of the Old Republic, thirty years before the dawn of Palpatine's Galactic Empire.

Your mission is not merely to survive, but to thrive amidst the chaos. Specifically, the big-picture goal for this quest is to successfully develop a 'third option' Force sect, one that is neither Jedi nor Sith.

Gray Paladin is designed as an 'Open World' (or 'Sandbox') quest. My hope in writing this is to immerse you in the Star Wars galaxy, to draw you in and let you roam free - to leave no stone unturned, to play in this galactic sandbox to the full.

Details and mechanics will be introduced over the course of the Prologue; let's jump right in.

* * *

 **Gray Paladin: A Star Wars Quest**

 **Year 951 ARR** [49 BBY]  
 **Hedrett Medical Center, Hedrett, Cularin system**

Tai's hair was caked in sweat, her face flushed and blotchy.

Constantine had never seen her so beautiful.

His arm was numb where she gripped it. His ears were practically deafened from the screams and obscenities of the last few hours.

None of that mattered.

"Oobah... Oobah!" intoned the Polis Massan midwife-droid.

"I have your kriffing - Ooh! - 'oobah' right here!" Constantine's wife spat. "Oh _sithspit_ that stings. Get your - Aah! - frakin' faceless front-plate out of my face." Tai swiped ineffectually at the hovering droid.

Time to intervene. "You're doing great, you're almost there!" He reassured, holding the hand on his arm. "Just remember to…" Constantine winced as her grip tightened, as another contraction hit her. "Breathe!"

Tai glared at him, too exhausted to respond aloud.

"Chroon-Tan, how much longer?"

"Very nearly there, sir." The droid placidly replied. "The head has just started to crown."

"Hear that, honey? You're doing great." His words might have had more effect, if he hadn't been repeating the same mantra for the past hour.

Her eyes conveyed exactly what she thought of him.

"Miss?" The droid interjected. "Remember, right now the important thing is to not push. We need to let the baby come out in its own time."

She nodded.

"Oobah!"

She glared.

He coughed politely. "That's not really helpful." He pointed out, once he'd caught the droid's attention.

"It is protocol for a reason, sir."

Constantine sorely regretted not popping open Chroon-Tan's control panels hours ago, when there had been time to spare. What was the point in being the best slicer in the sector, if not to double-check the competence of the midwife-droid's birthing subroutines?

"There are the shoulders. Are you ready, Miss? One last contraction… oobah!"

Chroon-Tan expertly maneuvered the cradling paddles to catch the newborn, as it emerged with a rather disgusting 'shlick'-ing sound.

His wife collapsed limply on the medical table, before straining her neck to look at the droid's precious cargo.

For all the surging emotions of the moment, an idle part of him found itself impressed by the droid. Whatever its bedside manner, the droid certainly knew its business, cleaning and testing and handling the baby – his child! – in the few seconds while it moved up the table.

" _Isita oida_."

It was a girl. He had a daughter!

"Have you decided on a name?" The droid prompted.

Tai was still catching her breath, so he spoke for both of them. "Yes. The name is Diana - Diana Ramble."

"Very good, sir. Now, Miss: would you like to hold your child?" The midwife-droid had anticipated his wife's quick response and was already holding the baby out. "Here you are."

Their child had quickly latched on and began nursing, both parents rapt at the sight.

The droid blithely continued, "Be advised: there will be a few mild contractions as your body deals with the afterbirth. While we wait, I can fill out the final birth certificate on your behalf."

The new father was the first to respond, several seconds later, seemingly unaware of the time elapsed. "That… would be fine."

"All right, you have already filled out the relevant data, but my protocols require verbal confirmation before I may proceed. What is the father's full name?"

"My name is Constantine Ramble."

"And the mother?"

"Tai Ramble." As with her husband, it had taken several seconds for the new mother to realize there had been a question.

"Is that your name from birth?"

"From marriage. My maiden name is Mox."

"Finally, please identify your current residence."

Constantine answered. "We live at 220 Kantal Boulevard, Hedrett, Cularin, Cularin system, Thaere sector, Expansion Regions."

* * *

 **Results:**

Main Character's Gender:  
-[X] "Isita oida." It was a girl.  
Main Character's Name (Write In):  
-[X] Diana Ramble  
Father's Name (Write In):  
-[X] Constantine Ramble  
Mother's Name (Write In):  
-[X] Tai Ramble née Mox

 **Main Character's Homeworld** :  
[] 110 Upper Bay View, Cirran, Cirrus, Cirrus system, Dantus sector, Outer Rim Territories  
 **[X] 220 Kantal Boulevard, Hedrett, Cularin, Cularin system, Thaere sector, Expansion Regions**  
[] 330 Jigani Overlook, Maslovar, Desevro, Desev system, Tion Hegemony sector, Outer Rim Territories  
[] 440 Remada Row, Mos Espa, Tatooine, Tatoo system, Arkanis sector, Outer Rim Territories  
[] 55 East, Ffib Forest Base, Forest Moon of Endor, Endor system, Moddell sector, Inner Zuma Region, Outer Rim Territories

* * *

 **A/N** : Gray Paladin is a Star Wars quest I'm running over at the 'Sufficient Velocity' forum (no links, but it's the first result if you google 'Gray Paladin Sufficient Velocity'). I wanted to encourage my ff-net readers to check it out and join the fun. My primary focus will be on running and writing the quest on SV, so updates to the story on this site will be irregular at best.

The quest was inspired by a wiki-walk I did through 'Wookieepedia', the Star Wars wikia. Namely: over the course of about a year or so, I viewed every page for every sector, system, and planet in the Star Wars galaxy. Turns out it's pretty hard to get _that_ immersed in a fictional universe without wanting to try your hand at it. Hence this quest.

In terms of quest design: I borrowed the basic action economy and mechanics from Crusader Kings II (i.e., with Martial, Diplomacy, Stewardship, Intrigue, Lore, & Research categories) with significant modifications to how advisors and allies work, how traits are developed, and how assets are gained. All that to say: the mechanics fall pretty heavily on the 'simulationist' side of the spectrum.

On the other hand, the story itself (and my manner of writing it) falls quite distinctly on the 'narrativist' side of the spectrum. As much as I want to immerse my readers in the Star Wars galaxy proper, I also want them to invest in the characters and the choices they must make. Whatever the results of each round of voting, my priority is crafting a compelling story, with relatable characters facing realistic situations. Even if one has superpowers, while the other is a...

Spoilers!


	2. A Ramble Family: Tai 1

**A/N:** This is a quest I'm running at Sufficient Velocity - ff-net removes links, but google 'Gray Paladin Sufficient Velocity' to find it.

* * *

The birth certificate complete – and the afterbirth unceremoniously expulsed shortly thereafter - the midwife droid Chroon-Tan departed the birthing center, activating a passive medical monitoring system but otherwise letting the new family huddle together for comfort.

At first Constantine thought the tears streaking down his wife's face were those of joy, to behold the new life she had borne and birthed.

He was wrong.

"No." Behind her soft nigh-irrepressible smile, Tai was quietly weeping. "No. _Force_ no. I didn't… I didn't want this. Not for her."

"Honey?" Constantine softly prompted.

"Oh Kosta." Tai turned to him with glistening eyes. "Oh Kosta. She's so strong." And still she wept.

He still didn't understand, but was content to hold her in silence, waiting.

At last her tears dried; at last she was able to speak. "Can you not feel her? Even you… perhaps even you can."

His hand reached out, to cradle little Diana's downy head.

"No, in the Force," his wife corrected. "Close your eyes and... reach – can you not feel her, her soul, the substance of her? Oh Kosta I feared, but I never expected… never expected this."

"… strong in the Force? Truly? But surely… I'd have thought you'd consider it cause for rejoicing?"

Tears rained down as Tai struggled to respond. "No, Constantine. You knew I was running; did you not wonder what I was running from?"

He found himself at a loss for words.

"I told you my background, my home, my people. You were… you are, so good to me, you never made me tell… you were willing to wait till... until I felt ready. But I was never ready, and now... now there is no time to wait."

Tai breathed deeply, dipping down to smell her newborn as if to fortify herself. "I have told you the barest facts of my past. You know I was a member of the Blackguard sect, trained amidst the lava fields of Mustafar."

* * *

 **Vote Results:**

 **Mother's Background (Vote for up to 3; only top result will be chosen)**  
[] an Adept of the White Current, extensively trained in stealth and illusion techniques  
[] an Altisian Jedi, trained to push my consciousness into inanimate objects, to learn their past or preserve my existence after death  
 **[X] a Blackguard Wilder, a Marauder with years of experience in seeking out and learning from other Force sects around the galaxy**  
[] a Blazing Chain Captain, a privateer fighting in the Unknown Regions, trained to use the Force to alter the path of projectile energy weapons  
[] a Corellian Jedi, too weak to be recruited for the Coruscant Order, but strong enough to be noticed and brought to Coronet City's Green Jedi Enclave  
[] a Daughter of Allya, trained as a spell-caster from our clan's grimoire, trained as a warrior oath-sworn to "never concede to evil"  
[] a Disciple of Twilight, supremely skilled in the art of bending both light and shadow  
[] a Follower of Palawa, a scholar of the Force, but extensively trained in the martial art of Teräs Käsi  
[] a Jal Shey Advisor, a wandering diplomat and scholar of the Force, trained in the skill of Force Imbuement  
[] a Jedi, an Investigator who sympathized with the heretical Teepo Paladins  
[] a Jedi, a Historian who sympathized with the Potentium heresy.  
[] a Jedi, the padawan of Chief Librarian Jocasta Nu. She trained me as an Archivist, to serve as her assistant and perhaps one day her successor.  
[] a Jedi, the padawan of 'Gray Jedi' Thracia Cho Leem. She trained me as a Healer, to assist her as she wandered the galaxy  
[] a Jedi, a Technician who sympathized with Master Aquinos and his Iron Knights  
[] a Matukai Adept, trained as a martial artist, to use the Force for self-mastery and physical augmentation  
[] a Voss Mystic, untrained but innately gifted as both a healer and a seer, able to receive Force Visions of the past, present, and future  
[] a Warden of the Sky, trained to patrol the space-lanes and offer assistance to any traveler in need  
[] a Zeison Sha Warrior, by necessity a skilled survivalist, extensively trained in telekinesis


	3. A Ramble Family: Tai 2

**A/N:** This is a quest I'm running at Sufficient Velocity - ff-net removes links, but google 'Gray Paladin Sufficient Velocity' to find it.

* * *

"But I was never ready, and now... now there is no time to wait." Tai breathed deeply, dipping down to smell her newborn as if to fortify herself. "I have told you the barest facts of my past. You know I was a member of the Blackguard sect, trained amidst the lava fields of Mustafar."

She paused. "After my Trials, I spent two years among the Luka Sene honing my Force sight. Though I lacked their genetic gifts, I improved steadily, and was regarded as one of their most promising students. It was near the end of my time there that I saw…" Her voice broke. "I discovered that a shadow had fallen across the Force."

Constantine quirked his head. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't know how else to describe it. The very hue of my Force sight had altered, without my noticing, without anyone's noticing." Tai looked at him helplessly. "I brought it up to my teachers, but how could I explain what I barely understood? How to make them understand, what they seemed unable to perceive? Miraluka see _through_ the Force; they had no context to recognize when or whether the Force itself had been altered."

"What did you do?"

"I ended my time with the Luka Sene, and sought out new teachers who could give me answers. I first tried the Voss, but they rebuffed my request for training, as did the seers of M'Haeli. At last, I learned of one who might help me: Lanius Qel-Bertuk, headmaster of Almas Academy."

"Almas? But that's—"

"Here in the Cularin system, yes. Master Qel-Bertuk heard my story, and took it seriously. For nearly a year he instructed me in farsight techniques, meditating upon the Force to comprehend the past and future, to dimly perceive events occurring elsewhere, elsewhen. Finally, during a session at the end of our year... I saw."

Her eyes had lost focus as Tai spoke, but now her face blanched as she recalled her vision.

"A great veil, descending over the galaxy. A shroud of darkness, powered by darkness, emanating from every dark corner of the galaxy, eclipsing everything of light. I saw glimpses of a future: faceless armies, colossal engines of war, death... a Temple burning. The shroud had no epicenter, yet within those glimpses I felt something like its heart." Tears streamed down her cheeks. "And there was _so much hate_."

Constantine consoled his wife as best he knew how, in silence.

At last Tai summoned the will to continue. "I knew, then, that this was no accident. This shroud had been _created_ , crafted, forged – by wielders of the Dark, to weaken the Light. But the worst… the worst of it was, I knew. I knew who had made it. The hate, the sheer reckless hate… I _recognized_ it."

She shuddered; he clutched her closer.

"The man who founded Blackguard... before he came to Mustafar, he traveled the galaxy, gathering artifacts that might be useful for his students, provide a backbone for our sect. But he gave strict orders, that one of the artifacts he brought be kept apart from the rest, that only Wilders be permitted in its presence. The last Trial I faced, before attaining that rank myself, was to approach that artifact. To activate it. To face the dark side within myself, and return." Tai shook her head. "I will never forget what I encountered there, within that ancient Sith holocron." She met his widening eyes. "Nor can I ever forget the _hate_ that burned in its heart... that selfsame reckless hate."

Constantine gaped at her, then in a frantic whisper: "But the Sith are dead! They can't be - the Jedi ended them!"

"I don't know how they survived. I only know they did. And they are hungry: for revenge, for power... for the downfall of the Republic itself."

Constantine shivered. Everyone knew the Republic was rife with corruption. Many suspected, even if few openly proclaimed, that the Thousand Year Peace was winding down. But a return to the carnage of the New Sith Wars? He'd seen the holovids, read the histories. It was unthinkable.

But he knew his wife, and could read her grim certainty. It had been unthinkable - but no longer.

"What should we do?"

Tai had watched him carefully, half-doubting whether her Kosta would believe her. Now she lifted herself and pressed a tender kiss to the corner of his mouth. Her eyes shone, "I love you."

He smiled. "I love you." His gaze rested on Diana. "And you, little one."

Even as she smiled, the irrepressible glow of a new mother, she felt a weariness take root, deep in her bones. "Diana is what I'm worried about." Tai eased down in the bed. "Chroon-Tan took a blood sample before he left. Our Diana is so strong... I don't know what her midichlorian count will be, but I am sure it'd be high enough to attract the notice of the Jedi."

Now he understood her tears. "And you saw the Temple burning. You saw the Jedi fall."

"We both know the Sith will be targeting prominent Jedi. Diana is so powerful - nowhere in the galaxy would she be safe."

Constantine racked his brain. "The Headmaster - Qel-something, you said?"

"Master Qel-Bertuk, yes."

"Could you speak with him? You did tell him your vision, right?"

"Yes, but... Oh Kosta, I'm so glad you believe me, but... Master Qel-Bertuk-"

"He didn't believe you." He said flatly.

"I don't blame him; truly, I can't." Tai flushed. "Master Qel-Bertuk is one of the best seers in the Order, and I... I am little better than a padawan in the art. I don't know why the Force chose me for this vision, but it's hardly surprising he gave it little credit. No Jedi wants to believe the Sith could have survived."

"Oh, I understand." Constantine growled, but forced himself back on track. "But would he accept your request, to keep Diana out of the Order?"

"Perhaps, yes. Master Qel-Bertuk is... well, largely seen as a maverick within the Jedi Order. Almas is an experimental academy, widely known for accepting older students and occasionally even adults. He would not mind if we held Diana back." She frowned. "But Master Qel-Bertuk is not the issue."

"How do you mean?"

"The blood test would not be sent to Almas Academy, but to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. It would be their agent who would take our Diana away."

"Would they be willing-?"

"No." Tai shook her head. "The Jedi Recruiter for this sector, Master Jonas Fel'Kona, is by all accounts one of the most cold-blooded Masters in the whole Order. A few years back, he apparently fathered a child with a local woman. He attended the birth, and took the boy away for training. He did not even let the woman hold her newborn son."

Constantine's blood froze in his veins. Was this to be Diana's fate? "Can't we... can't we just tell them 'no'? Diana is our child. By what right can they take her from us?" His voice grew more strident.

"By right of law." Tai softly touched his arm; startled, he looked back at her. "When I studied with the Zeison Sha, I learned some of their history. They were originally a Jedi colony, taking refuge from the New Sith Wars. When the war ended and they resumed contact with the galaxy, they discovered that the Order had changed. Under the Force-Sensitive Acquisition Act passed during the Ruusan Reformation, the Jedi Order has full legal authority to take custody of anyForce-sensitive child, anywhere within the Republic, regardless of the parents' wishes."

His jaw dropped.

"In practice, the Jedi carve out exceptions for planets with known Force sects - Yanibar and Alpheridies are lucky in that regard. Also, there are some Jedi Recruiters who make a point of seeking the parents' permission, and comply if the parents decline. But the law gives them the authority to override the parents, and most Recruiters feel no compunction about doing precisely that."

"That's... that's _monstrous_!"

"Why do you think the Jedi Order is so unpopular? It was one thing when the Jedi had just fought a war and saved the Republic, but after a thousand years of peace?"

"Is there anything we can do?"

"Yes. It's a short-term solution, but if that blood-test did not show a high midichlorian count, there would be no reason to pass the results on to the Coruscant Temple."

"And no reason for them to send their Recruiter after us."

"Precisely."

Constantine leaned down to kiss her forehead, before swinging his legs off the sleeper. "Right. I feel a sudden urge to use the facilities. Don't mind me, if I take a bit longer than usual."

"Kosta?" She called as he slipped towards the door.

"Yes, love?"

" _Thank you_. And be careful."

"Of course." And with a wink and a smile, he was gone.

Tai looked down at the newborn child resting on her breast, no longer nursing but still attached. "Oh Diana. Never doubt your father loves you."

* * *

 **Rolls:  
** 1d50 = 33 (Luka Sene)  
1d50 = 26 (Almas Academy)  
\- 1d6 = 6 (Lanius Qel-Bertuk)  
1d50 = 16 (Zeison Sha)

 **Subvote** :  
[X] Luka Sene ('force sight' developed to 10/10, 'Luka Sene Mastery' unlocked; 'telekinesis' leveled to 5/10)


	4. A Ramble Family: Constantine 1

**A/N:** This is a quest I'm running on another site; ff-net removes links, but google 'Gray Paladin Sufficient Velocity' to find it.

* * *

He did not move off immediately, but instead rested a hand on the door to their room, took a moment to focus on his breathing, to slow his racing heart. Learning that the Sith had returned had been bad enough. Learning that _Diana_ was vulnerable, that his daughter might be taken away, stripped from the arms of their family, that she would never remember his face, that he would never witness her first steps...

Constantine grimaced at his runaway thoughts. Focus. His instinctive stress response had always tended towards 'Freeze', so he had plenty of experience pushing his emotions away.

Now was not the time. Constantine took another breath. He would protect his daughter, protect his family. He would not let them down.

 _I am not my father._

Constantine forced himself to move away from the door. A quick glance to the floor-map nearby was all he needed to guide his steps to the Hedrett Medical Center mainframe.

The improvised plans running through his head were so familiar, practically rote, that Constantine found his thoughts drifting back in time, to a memory from the better, earlier days of his childhood. It had been a balmy spring day, on his homeworld of Circarpous IV.

His father had just returned from his day job, as a director of the Republic Treasury Reserve. Constantine remembered that he had brought some his work home with him that day.

In retrospect, perhaps his father had been trying to distract himself from the problems in his marriage, but that had not been obvious to such a young boy. All Constantine remembered was joy and delight - joy to see his father, delight that he had a ready excuse to sit beside his father later that evening, reading over his shoulder. Though he must have been exhausted from overwork, Mr. Ramble had never tired of answering his son's questions about the material, and Constantine had absorbed all that he could.

That was before the troubles. Before his mother lied. Before his father-

Constantine kept moving. _I am not my father._

* * *

 **Father's Stress Response (Pick 1)**

[] Fight  
[] Flight  
 **[X] Freeze**

 **Father's Homeworld (Vote for up to 3; top result will be chosen)**  
[] Corellia. His father had just returned from his day job, as an experimental test pilot for the Corellian Engineering Corporation.  
[] Kiffex. His father had just returned from his day job, as a general of the Kiffu Guardians.  
[] Concord Dawn. His father had just returned from his day job, as a constable in the Journeyman Protectors.  
[] Lorrd. His father had just returned from his day job, as a professor of psychology at Lorrd University.  
[] Chandrila. His father had just returned from his day job, as an administrator of the Legislative Youth Program.  
 **[X] Circarpous IV. His father had just returned from his day job, as a director of the Republic Treasury Reserve.**  
[] Tirahn. His father had just returned from his day job, as the operations manager of the Great Fair.  
[] Ord Mantell. His father had just returned from his day job, as a sector chief for the Black Sun.  
[] Jarvanam. His father had just returned from his day job, as a faculty member of the Baradis School of Technology.  
[] Sanbra. His father had just returned from his day job, as a professor of xenoarchaeology at the University of Sanbra  
[] Manda. His father had just returned from his day job, as a curator at the Baobab Archives.  
[] Lianna. His father had just returned from his day job, as a starship designer with Republic Sienar Systems.  
[] Kuat. His father had just returned from his day job, as a starship engineer with Kuat Drive Yards.  
[] Fresia. His father had just returned from his day job, as a starshipwright with Incom Corporation.  
[] Nubia. His father had just returned from his day job, as a droid technician with Industrial Automaton.  
[] Ord Cestus. His father had just returned from his day job, as a droid designer with Clandes Industrial.  
[] Alderaan. His father had just returned from his day job, as a medicial researcher with Aldera Universal Medcenter.  
[] Obroa-Skai. His father had just returned from his day job, as a cyberneticist with Aurora Medical Facility.  
[] Rhinnal. His father had just returned from his day job, as a xenobiologist with Rhire Medical Academy.


	5. A Ramble Family: Constantine 2

**A/N:** This is a quest I'm running on another site; ff-net removes links, but google 'Gray Paladin Sufficient Velocity' to find it.

* * *

 **939 ARR** [61 BBY]  
 **Circarpous IV**

Constantine remembered his first con.

Even at thirteen, it had been such a simple thing to slice his father's credchip and remove the charge limit. His father's fall from grace - his mother's lies - had been quick and calamitous. But now his father was working to get a new start, to re-brand himself as a honest merchant of imported goods. The only problem was, the auditors had frozen all their accounts, so there wasn't enough funds to pay for all the needed supplies.

Constantine had fixed that.

Of course, he hadn't realized that the credchip was tied to his father's account, so the overdraft put Mr. Roupen Ramble firmly in the red. But now Constantine's talents were out in the open, and his father saw an opportunity.

Circarpous IV was unique among the financial centers of the galaxy, in that the planet's economy was not dominated by a single mega-bank, but was defined by the fierce competition between dozens of banks, of varying sizes. The largest institution on the planet was the Republic Treasury Reserve, where Constantine's father had worked before. But the Reserve merely serve as a repository for the other banks, and a neutral arbiter when accounts didn't balance.

That was how Jak had gotten away with it. His father's best friend and director, working in the same division... that smug son of a bantha had framed Roupen Ramble for fraud, accused him of using his position as arbiter to rebalance each bank's account in the Reserve's favor, reporting to the Reserve that the accounts were balanced in the banks' favor, and pocketing the difference.

Of course, Constantine knew the true story, had literally stumbled across it. He'd come home from school early one day, and met Jak leaving the house... and his mother Pa'lette straightening her clothes. He hadn't understood then, not till he'd mentioned it to his father.

The next day had been harrowing for the thirteen year old, with not a moment's respite from the screaming match. When the dust settled, Roupen had moved out, Jak had moved in, Constantine's mother had custody of him and his (much younger) sister, and his father was under official investigation for bank fraud.

Constantine ran away.

The first time, he went straight to his father's new apartment, a dingy hole in a graffiti'd wall. But it was the work of mere hours for the planetary police to find him and return him to Pa'lette's place (never 'home', not after what she'd done).

Of course Pa'lette tried to explain why he was wrong, why she'd been worried for him, why Roupen was a _bad man_ , why Jak had been so good to help their family in their time of need. Constantine didn't bother listening.

The second time, he took his time, sleeping in a back alley overnight and seeking out his father the next morning, away from the apartment.

Unfortunately, the police had the good sense to follow Roupen's movements, and had caught Constantine as soon as he reappeared.

The third time, Constantine didn't bother picking a direction, preferring instead to wander the streets until the coast was clear. Those few weeks on the street had taught him independence, given him a new perspective on the wealth he'd enjoyed growing up, given him a new disdain for the corruption he saw on every corner. He'd learned things - how to pick a pocket, where to find food and shelter, how to beg, how to spot a mark. When Constantine finally caught up with his father, he learned something else: Roupen had filed for custody. In light of Constantine's obvious preference for the disgraced banker, and Pa'lette's clear inability to keep Constantine safe at home, the courts reluctantly granted the petition.

That's when Constantine was given his father's credchip. Reputation in tatters, Roupen had found that few of his past friends would give him the time of day, and even fewer merchants would extend credit for those needed business supplies. His son didn't have those problems. So Roupen trusted him, to arrange the deals and payments, to make contacts and negotiate prices. Constantine wasn't very good at it, not at first, but Roupen didn't have a choice.

When the overdrawn account had come to police attention, Roupen had shielded his son, taken the blame for the con, added the overdraw to the staggering list of charges he faced in court.

Then, with nowhere else to go, Roupen turned to his son, and his son's newfound talent. Slicing had always come easy to the boy - Constantine remembered breaking his first computer's encryption at the age of seven, just to see how it worked. Now, with Constantine's talent and Roupen's knowledge of banking, they planned their first heist.

Roupen suggested they first target one of the smaller banks - there'd be less profit in it, but the minimal security ensured a far safer trial run for their first 'professional' slice. Constantine designed the bug that would penetrate the mainframe, and both he and his father spent the day establishing their alibi. When they returned to the apartment, Constantine had been overjoyed to see how many credits the bug had brought back. Roupen had quickly sat the boy down and explained the facts of life - whatever their alibi, the police would very quickly start to suspect Roupen if they were seen throwing money around. That was the day Constantine learned about money laundering.

Over the next two years, Roupen helped his son set up dozens of accounts, improving his methods and skills until they were both confident that Constantine's security was perfect. Each heist would dump more money into an electronic funnel, moving the stolen funds from account to account, bank to bank, on-planet and off, until they wound up in four accounts totally insulated from the world and their own identities.

But they didn't steal from the Republic Treasury Reserve. "Not now," Roupen told him. "Not yet."

His father's accounts had been unfrozen - the criminal investigation and audit stalled after a year for lack of direct evidence - though Roupen's reputation never did recover. Their secret supply of cash had ensured Ramble's Imports kept puttering along, though by that point the business functioned more like a front company than a legitimate enterprise.

Occasionally, Constantine would return to see his mother and sister, to see the home they had built. Pa'lette had remarried, predictably enough: no longer a Ramble, she now went by Mrs. Jak Barnes.

Eventually father and son started planning their heist, the big one. The Republic Treasury Reserve had the best security in the sector, and the only access points were from within the main complex.

Roupen said he had a plan to get in, to let Constantine drop the bug in the mainframe. Roupen delivered. His former secretary, Sheryl, a well-proportioned lady whose fashionable elegance was only belied by the subtle scars of anti-aging treatment, was _quite_ pleased to hear from her old boss, and agreed to set a date the next day.

Constantine did not attend their private luncheon, nor the night that followed, but met his father when he emerged with Sheryl the next morning. That's when he learned his father's plan. Constantine was apparently _very_ keen on becoming a banker - wouldn't it be a fine thing for a strapping lad to tour the largest, greatest bank in the galaxy, before going away to study finance?

And with that, he was in.

But, as Constantine let himself be led by Sheryl through the Reserve's security, his mind was anywhere but the mainframe that was his target. Something else occupied his thoughts, something ugly, something true.

His father had not seen Sheryl in years. Yet they were apparently so familiar, that Sheryl would come home and spend the night?

Constantine played on Sheryl's vanity as they moved further into the compound. As she spoke, pieces started falling into place.

During his years as director, Roupen Ramble had cultivated an aura of almost magnetic nonchalance, a cavalier disregard for the rules of the workplace. Funds _had_ been misappropriated; everyone knew it. But everyone also knew the funds were gone, spent as fast or faster than they could be collected. Those funds had paid for the gifts, the dinners, the one-night suites - just enough to make a conquest of nearly every junior accountant and secretary in the division.

Roupen Ramble was a _slug_.

And his co-conspirator, his wingman, his equal partner for the spoils? None other than Jak Barnes.

It had all fallen apart when Jak had taken a shine to Roupen's wife. After all, what was good for the gander, was good for the goose, and Pa'lette had more than enough reason to suspect Roupen of unfaithfulness. When Constantine uncovered the affair, Pa'lette had arranged to push her hypocrite husband out of the home, and Jak arranged to push Roupen out of the company, by whistle-blowing on his own scheme and laying the blame for it on his co-conspirator.

Dutifully tagging along behind Sheryl as she gave him a tour of the Reserve complex, Constantine worked faster than he'd ever worked in his life. He'd soon have access to the Reserve mainframe, but the bug he'd planned was spectacularly unsuited for the needs of the moment. This was not the time for a single big haul. This was the time for a subtle, slow-cooking revenge.

Every day, millions, billions, trillions of sentients transferred money from their own accounts to that of a vendor, a basic cred-chip payment. This was only part of the big picture, however. Yes, the Republic credit was legal tender on all worlds, but it was not uncommon for each planet or system to run their own local currency as well. The Republic Treasury Reserve was responsible for updating the exchange rates, between the galactic standard credit and the millions of other currencies around the galaxy.

But no matter how powerful their mainframe, the Reserve's official exchange rate could not possibly keep up with the changing tide of supply and demand, that caused the real value of the credit to shift every second, every infinitesimal fractions of seconds.

This was, in fact, a significant source of revenue for them. The Reserve, and a thousand other banks, and a million independent operators as well, were able to make a tidy profit through arbitrage, buying and selling currencies to leverage those fleeting differences between real and nominal value.

But this was only half of Constantine's plan. Roupen had compared it to the butcher shop, chopping large pieces of meat into smaller and smaller, till it could be consumed without taking a bite. He called it 'the salami slice'.

Take a single transaction: a buyer and seller. They agree on a price, credits are exchanged, they walk away happy.

In a galactic economy, such transactions were rare. More often the price would be determined by a computer, a data-droid, or some banking mainframe that might not be on the same planet, and credits would be transferred between accounts, not exchanged directly.

Constantine learned that, to more precisely track supply and demand in a galactic economy, most prices would be specified, not to the credit or even the deci-credit, but milli-credits or even nano-credits. In short, prices were defined and particularized to a ludicrous extent, far below the level that most buyers or sellers or even banks would ever notice. And when the transaction was recorded, it was credits and deci-credits that were transferred between accounts. So where did the smaller denominations go? Quite simply, they disappeared into the digital ether, ghosts of pointless data that no one bothered to check. The mainframes kept track of nano-credit values, but so rarely did it affect the main account balance that no one cared.

And therein lay the opportunity.

Insert a bug into the bank's mainframe, walk away. The next time credits were traded with local currency, one nano-credit would be re-allocated from the arbitrageur to a sham account, that would dump the nano-credit back into the digital stream, transferring it to a separate bank alongside a much larger transaction. Rinse and repeat a few times, and eventually the nano-credit would reappear in an entirely new account in an entirely new bank with no one the wiser.

A single nano-credit was useless. But with billions of currency transactions, they would soon add up, even if you only sliced one out of every hundred transactions. Constantine only regretted that he didn't had time to diversify, to use the same salami slice on more than mere currency markets.

He did, however, manage to include a primitive whistle-blower bug, that would passively gather evidence on Jak and the other directors, to eventually deliver to the police. Revenge might take years, but now the clock was ticking.

Sheryl had been easy enough to distract, and Constantine was well versed in appearing to belong wherever he went. He'd gotten in and out of the mainframe room with ease - another bug he planted would erase his presence from the vid-feed - and once the tour finished, he made his escape.

That evening Constantine confronted his father, told him what he knew. Roupen laughed. The delusions of childhood, he called it. Constantine always loved his father, adored his father, _worshipped_ his father; yet not till now did he realize what should have been obvious.

Roupen was _far_ too good a thief, to have started out as an honest broker.

Everyone was a thief, his father argued; every one a fraud. Everyone sells lies, adorns themselves in lies, compliments their friends on the splendid lies they tell. The only thing that mattered, was the kind of lie you use. Yes, he cheated the bank, cheated his wife, cheated the Republic itself. But his lies gave him the income to support a family, gave him the prestige to secure his children's future, provided them with a stable home. She cheated, and her lies destroyed. And someday, Jak would cheat, and Roupen would laugh when Pa'lette was brought as low as she tried to bring him.

Constantine found himself at a loss, unable to respond to the brazen hollowness of this man he called father. When Roupen turned away, Constantine summoned the energy to say "I can't - I won't stay here."

Roupen laughed again. Where would he go? What would he eat? Would he go back to Pa'lette, the mother he'd rejected? How could he survive on the streets of Circarpous, when everything he had could be found in that very apartment, or in the storefront they maintained a block away? Fine, go, enjoy your delusions, remain a child a little longer. The door was unlocked; he could leave if he wanted.

But, Roupen added, the money, the offshore accounts, the business - none of it would leave with him. It'd be easy enough to concoct a story, Roupen said: that his son the prodigy, had been so devoted to his father's well-being, that he sliced into bank after bank to ensure that there'd be enough money to make the business a success. That Roupen had discovered the fraud, and turned the evidence over to the police; because the courts had entrusted him with custody; because, as a truly loving father, he knew that the best future for his poor Constantine, was one where his son understood there were consequences to his actions, understood the obligation of mercy and justice - to be punished fairly, but as a juvenile.

Constantine did not turn his back on his father, till Roupen had laid down for the night.

That night, Constantine moved the stolen funds to four new accounts, changed the access codes, and shut down the originals. He compiled the data on the import business, gathered the evidence that it was a front company for fraud.

Early the next morning, he left through the open front door.

Constantine considered visiting his mother's house, to offer his apologies... but that thought died in the womb. Pa'lette Ramble had known of her husband's cheating long before her own affair with Jak, and must have known about the fraud as well, to wield it so effectively against her husband's career. She'd enjoyed the fruits of fraud from her first husband and her second. There was no need to apologize for disbelieving a lie, even if he'd fallen prey to a worse one.

Constantine's only regret was to leave his sister in such a home. But he knew that Pa'lette would have told and retold and reinforced the tale of her first husband's betrayal, and that his sister would be in no position to question or deny the obvious facts of her past, not when she was still an innocent, just as much as a child as Constantine had been a mere twenty-four hours ago.

Perhaps later, when she had grown, when Jak was exposed... He put together another bug, and sliced it into the public data-portal, to keep track of the Barnes family, and to give his sister a way to contact him once she had freed herself. One day she might be willing to listen, but here and now, there was little more he could do.

By noon, he had smuggled himself aboard a freighter, and sent the evidence against his father to the police. He swore he'd never return to Circarpous IV.

Constantine ran away.

* * *

The day he left Circarpous IV, his priority had been getting off the planet. Constantine hadn't put much thought into his destination, or what he would do when he got there. The journey was as lifeless as space itself, but that gave the fifteen-year-old stowaway plenty of time to consider his next move.

Constantine knew that, if his father had anything to say about it, he'd be a wanted criminal before the week was out. But Constantine was a slicer, one of the best in the galaxy. He knew how to blend in to a crowd, how to assume an identity, how to look like he belonged.

Time to make his mark on the galaxy.

* * *

 **Rolls:  
** 1+1d4 = 4 (five accounts)  
5d100 = 65, 67, 55, **92** , 81 (account balance)

 **Father's Profession** (Choose as many as you want; top 4 will be brought forward to a subvote)  
[] Athlete (Martial)  
[] Bounty Hunter (Martial)  
 **[X] Pilot (Martial)**  
[] Lawyer (Diplomacy)  
[] Teacher (Diplomacy)  
[] Trader (Stewardship)  
[] Accountant (Stewardship)  
 **[X] Security Specialist (Intrigue)**  
[] Smuggler (Intrigue)  
[] Xenoarchaeologist (Lore)  
[] Curator (Lore)  
 **[X] Starship Engineer (Research)**  
 **[X] Droid Technician (Research)**  
[] Medical Scientist (Research


End file.
